davidl@tekig.UUCP (David Levadie) (01/21/84)
A while back I replied to somebody's complaint about the seemingly uncontrollable escalation of the nuclear arms race. The complainant suggested that he would like to contribute to, or even help start, an organization which might be effective in combating the arms buildup. I replied that there will be no relief of tension, and consquently no change in the trend toward arms buildup, until the Russian government abandons its policy of severely restricting the flow of information and people into, out of and through the Soviet Union. When he never replied, I decided, perhaps unjustifiably, that I was probably asking too much if I expected him to confront a basic problem when it's so much easier and requires so much less thought to just worry over the consequences. But regardless of whether or not I was justified in the case of this particular individual I have noticed that the disarmament movement in general seems to be devoting lots of energy to yelling and screaming about this country's policies, while conveniently ignoring the Soviet stranglehold on information dissemination, which I consider to be the fundamental obstacle to our EVER halting the arms race. In a recent issue of Mother Jones magazine there was an interview with a Russian diplomat's son, who had come to the same conclusions I mention, and had gotten expelled from Russia for trying to organize a disarmament movement there. Are there any pro-disarmament organizations which are trying to bring the Soviet people into the discussion of mutual disarmament, by whatever means necessary including convincing our own government to take drastic steps to force the Russian government to loosen its stranglehold on the flow of information? (Yeah, I know all about Brezhnev's doctor.) I think the CIA ought to fund IBM or XEROX or Hughes or somebody to develop a suitcase-sized plain paper copier that requires no toner, which could be smuggled into Russia in large quantities. (Maybe some high-tech industry would do it out of the kindness of their capitalist heart?) If anybody sends me any mail complaining that this shouldn't go on net.general because nuclear disarmament is not of general interest, they're going to be found dead in a garbage can under a pile of radioactive yogurt and granola and sprouts...